Renai Hensachi

Details

• Title: 恋愛偏差値
• Title (romaji): Renai Hensachi
• Also Known As: Love Quotient / Ideal Love
• Genre: Romance
• Episodes: 12
• Viewership: ratings 12.0%
• Broadcast network: Fuji TV
• Broadcast period: 2002-Jul-04 to 2002-Sep-19
• Air time: Thursday 22:00
• Theme Song: "Nemurenai Yoru wa Kimi no Sei" by MISIA

Synopsis

The most popular dramas recently are those that end after just one episode. But they don't seem to have the same kind of meaning behind them as weekly dramas do. So with this in mind, we've tried to create a new kind of drama. One episode doesn't seem to be enough, and more than 4 is too many. So we decided to change the main character every 4 episodes!

We needed to figure out what kind of theme would catch the attention of our viewers. So we came up with the theme of "struggles that women deal with daily" such as: work, the future, love life, marriage, independence, setbacks, and betrayal. These are the types of things that interest those of the "fairer sex."

We are living in times when being an independent woman is not a problem. Even so, the enemy of women is not men, it is those of the same sex.

Women have the freedom to work where they please and love as they please, which has caused even further struggles for them. So we thought that if we put together a drama that focuses on these kinds of things, it would attract more viewers.

At work, women have raised their potential. But is the same true for their love lives? Unfortunately not, because this isn't easy to change...

Who is your heroine? And how high is your "love quotient?" Compare your love quotient to the 4 "leading ladies" featured in our stories.

Chapter 1

• Title: 燃えつきるまで
• Title (romaji): Moetsukiru Made
• Title (English): Until the fire has all but burned out
• Episodes: 4
• Viewership: ratings 12.0%
• Broadcast period: 2002-Jul-04 to 2002-Jul-25

Synopsis

Reiko is a 28 year-old that works at a housing maker. She suddenly gets dumped by her boyfriend Koichiro after 5 years together.

This is where the story begins...

Without any warning, "career oriented" Reiko gets dumped. Before that, she was happy because she was able to balance both her career and love life.

After the break up, Reiko finds herself not being able to concentrate at work, and starts making mistakes that she ordinarily wouldn't. Thanks to this, she finds herself close to losing her position at work. Furthermore, she gets to the point to where she's almost anorexic, and her looks start going down hill. Right now, for Reiko, life is the pits. And to add to her misery, she finds out that Koichiro has a new girlfriend.

"Being in love is no big deal, and neither is breaking up for that matter." This is what Reiko thinks to herself after she starts feeling like she doesn't know what she's doing anymore. "There are all kinds of problems in the world today like pollution and people struggling because of economic woes. How many people are there starving at this very minute?" "I need to think a little more about the troubles of the world," she thinks to herself as she begins to feel a little ashamed that her problems are only a drop in the bucket. But for Reiko, the real problem at hand is not war or hunger; it's Koichiro.

To this point in time, Reiko has tried to make the best out of life. She's really done all she can. The reward for this has been her position at work and a stable love life. Thanks to the break-up, the string that equaled stability in life snapped in one swoop. She never paid much attention to other women around her before, but she starts doing so now. She also does the same at work.

The solution she comes up with to her problem is to fall just totally head-over-heels in love, and ride the "wave" of love as far as it will take her.

Cast

• Nakatani Miki as Yamamura Reiko
• Shinohara Ryoko as Tachibana Miho
• Okada Junichi as Ryuji
• Kikukawa Rei as Honda Emi
• Nakajima Tomoko as Tashiro Kyoko
• Miyazaki Yuko (宮崎優子) as Kuga Satoko
• Kimura Tae as Sunakawa Makiko
• Sekiguchi Tomohiro as Sawada Koichiro
• Okayama Hajime as Kimijima Hideaki
• Tsunku (つんく♂) as Morikawa Ayumu, the bartender

Production Credits

• Screenwriter: Tsuzuki Hiroshi (都築浩)
• Producer: Kurihara Miwako, Iguchi Kiichi (井口喜一)
• Director: Sato Yuichi, Kubota Satoshi (久保田哲史)
• Music: Sagisu Shiro (鷺巣詩郎)

Episode Titles & Ratings

• Ep 01: 失恋 / Lost Love
• Ep 02: 嫉妬 / Jealousy
• Ep 03: 涙のストーカー / Stalker with tears
• Ep 04: 最終回・この結末をどう思いますか・・・？ / Is it...how you think of the last inning / this ending?

• Ep 01: 12.4%
• Ep 02: 11.1%
• Ep 03: 13.8%
• Ep 04: 13.8%

Chapter 2

• Title: Party
• Episodes: 4
• Viewership: ratings 11.2%
• Broadcast period: 2002-Aug-01 to 2002-Aug-22

Synopsis

Kotoko is a 29 year-old female that works at a foreign affiliated company. One day the company suddenly goes under!!

This is where the story begins...

Kotoko is suddenly stuck looking for a new job to keep her boat afloat in the big city. It seems though that Kotoko's standards may just be a little too high: work in Marunouchi, live in Daikanyama, and have dates in Aoyama. As if this is going to all happen...

While at a party, Kotoko meets a guy by the name of Natsume who works in a leading trading company. So now she has another option to possibly choose from; marriage. But it may not be as easy to reel in the big fish as she thinks.

Sometime after meeting Natsume, she meets Moriya, a geek that owns a small glass factory in Edogawa. It may be the opposite type of work environment that she's looking for, but it's kind of cozy, so she starts to work there. A stimulating love life, and a down to earth work environment.

Eventually, Kotoko starts dating Natsume. While working at the glass factory, she learns some lessons about "the heart" from the people there: a middle-aged woman; an older, yet very picky veteran glass worker; an Iranian, and a high-school drop-out teenage boy who doesn't talk much. This helps Kotoko to become attached to the possible idea of marriage to Natsume. Thanks to all of this, Kotoko starts searching for her "real" place.

Cast

• Tokiwa Takako as Takamiya Kotoko
• Inagaki Goro as Natsume Kosaku
• Yamaguchi Satoshi as Moriya Junpei
• Hosokawa Naomi as Mizusawa Tamaki
• Kaneko Sayaka as Dajima Mao
• Kohmoto Masahiro as Matoba Keisuke
• Ojima Yoko as Ozone Satoko
• Washio Machiko as Kotobuki Ikue
• Tsunku (つんく♂) as Morikawa Ayumu, the bartender

Production Credits

• Screenwriter: Izumi Yoshihiro
• Producer: Kurihara Miwako, Iguchi Kiichi (井口喜一)
• Director: Kinoshita Takao (木下高男)
• Music: Sagisu Shiro (鷺巣詩郎)

Episode Titles & Ratings

• Ep 01: 29歳で失業!!それでも恋は始まった / I lose my job at 29!! Love started
• Ep 02: SEXから始まる恋…謎の男の正体は？ / Love that starts from SEX...Real nature of a mystery man?
• Ep 03: 破局…温かい男の大逆転？ / Catastrophe...Large reversal of the warm man
• Ep 04: 最終話・29歳の結論。恋と人生正解は1つじゃない / Conclusion of the final story. 29 years old. Neither love nor the life's answer are correct

• Ep 01: 13.1%
• Ep 02: 11.8%
• Ep 03: 09.4%
• Ep 04: 10.3%

Chapter 3

• Title: 彼女の嫌いな彼女
• Title (romaji): 'Kanojo no Kiraina Kanojo
• Title (English): Fighting Among Themselves
• Episodes: 4
• Viewership: ratings 12.0%
• Broadcast period: 2002-Aug-29 to 2002-Sep-19

Synopsis

This is the strange story about two women who work in the Marunouchi business district in Tokyo: a 34 year-old "old miss" and a 22 year-old who is just waiting for a marriage partner to come along. Although friends, the two eventually battle it out over one man.

The 34 year-old Tamako is considered an "old miss" at work. She's fairly attractive, good at her job, and has her own ideas about fashion and how she should lead her life. In other words, Tamako is a good-looking "adult" woman. So why is she still single?

At work, the new female recruits come in year after year, but all they've got going for them is good looks, because there's certainly nothing on the inside. Tamako forgets that she was once the same way, so she gets upset at the likes of them. Even so, she doesn't want to quit working. After all, she has to support herself.

It's not like Tamako doesn't have a boyfriend though...actually, she's having an affair. Her lover's name is Shiro, and he's 3 years older than her. She realizes that there isn't much in store for the future, but for now, it's the best thing going.

Is this the kind of love life that I was looking for? Is this how I wanted to spend my life at 34? Tamako is discontent, and has all kinds of reservations about herself.

Chie is a 22 year-old "office lady." She's just like the other girls who are waiting for "Prince Charming" to come along. More than work, Chie is always busy worried about "Mr. Right."

She wants to get out of the company and into a marriage! She's rather attractive and has a charming personality, but more than anything, she's young!!

She wants a good-looking man! Unfortunately though, she hasn't found one at work yet.

"It isn't supposed to be like this..."

Inside the office, she paints the image that she wouldn't harm a flea, but when she's in the kitchen at work, all she does is talk bad about her older co-workers.

"I don't want to wind up like them."

While waiting for her "Prince Charming," Chie is stuck with an aspiring actor; a poor one at that. Tsukasa may be poor, but he's got big dreams. Although she didn't want things to be this way, she's stuck on Tsukasa's "sex appeal."

One day, an elite, yet handsome guy arrives from New York! His name is Saeki, and he was "scouted" by the company to work for them in Tokyo.

Both Tamako and Chie vow the same thing, "I'm going to make him my man, and get out of this company!" But...while fighting over Saeki, Tamako isn't able to break things off with Shiro. The same is true for Chie.

"Ideals" and "reality," "aspirations" and "stability" are what these two are stuck between.

Cast

• Zaizen Naomi as Kawahara Tamako
• Shibasaki Kou as Yoshizawa Chie
• Kashiwabara Takashi as Saeki Yukihiko
• Yanagiba Toshiro as Otomo Shiro
• Kaito Ken as Kanno Tsukasu
• Nishino Taeko (西野妙子)
• Kinouchi Akiko
• Yahagi Miki (矢作美樹)
• Yamamoto Kei
• Tsunku (つんく♂) as Morikawa Ayumu, the bartender

Production Credits

• Screenwriter: Sakamoto Yuji
• Producer: Kurihara Miwako, Iguchi Kiichi (井口喜一)
• Director: Kubota Satoshi (久保田哲史), Sato Yuichi
• Music: Sagisu Shiro (鷺巣詩郎)

Episode Titles & Ratings

• Ep 01: お局VS腰掛！最強OL恋愛バトル / A court lady VS the chair! The strongest office ladies' love battle
• Ep 02: お局OL三十路の号泣…別れても好きな人 / Wailing of court lady OL thirty years old...The person who likes it even if I left
• Ep 03: 嫉妬の殴り合い！男の罠にはまった女たち / A fight of jealousy! Women stuck in the trap of a man
• Ep 04: 泣いて怒って最後に笑う…女が強い時代なのです / I cry and laugh last in anger...It is the times when a woman is strong

• Ep 01: 14.1%
• Ep 02: 11.8%
• Ep 03: 10.2%
• Ep 04: 11.8%

External Links

• Official Site
• JDorama.com

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Spring 2002	Fuji TV	Autumn 2002
Big Money	Tuesday 22:00	Bara no Jyujika